Friday, June 15, 2012

Everyone knows that before you stuff and roast an artichoke,
you have to boil it first. I know this, and have used this accepted technique
many times.

However, somewhere
deep in the memory banks were vague recollections of a stuffed artichoke
appetizer that the chef claimed had been roasted raw. This video shows what
happens when a cook’s heart ignores a cook’s brain.

The finished product was visually arresting (to put it
kindly), and despite looking completely inedible had quite a nice taste and
texture. No, that wasn’t the problem. It was the almost 2 1/2 hours (seemed
longer) I spent making it that took the wind out of my sails. I love stuffed
artichokes, but not that much.

So, I’m recommending we boil our trimmed artichokes in
salted water for 30 minutes, or until they just start to get tender. Then,
drain very well, stuff with the crumbs and roast until tender and crispy-brown.
You’ll have the same amazing artichoke appetizer without the
Monopoly-tournament time commitment. Enjoy!

For each artichoke:

1/4 cup bread crumbs

2 tbsp finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

pinch of dry or fresh herbs

2 tbsp olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 clove minced garlic*boil for about 30 minutes in salted water, drain very well, stuff and roast at 375 F. until tender and browned.

Great advice John! When I first attempted to grill artichokes years ago I sliced them and grilled them raw. Bad idea. Really stupidly bad idea. Such a waste of a perfectly awesome artichoke. Now I steam first, then grill. No surprise that the same holds for roasting them.

I laughed watching that video, too funny. I have been eating stuffed artichokes since I was a little kid. My Sicilian Nonna made them almost every Sunday. She trimmed them like you, but also snipped off the tops of the lower leaves. She would dig into the center with a spoon and remove some of the prickly parts of the choke, banged them open, stuffed them and then steamed them in a big pot with a few inches of water. I never saw her use lemon, but then again, she made them so fast they never had a chance to turn yellow. She also made an artichoke omelette that was to die for.

Yep, steaming works great. I love that you let us have sneak peeks into reality in your kitchen. It's so easy to imagine great cooks, including you of course, whisking through recipes and never once breaking a sweat or having a dish come out less than perfect. One of your wonderful gifts is your willingness to share these less than ideal instances. I'm glad your artichokes were tasty, even if they weren't actually worth the wait. Thanks for the lessen.Blessings.

I love your blog and am delighted to be able to let you in on a wee secret - I cook artichokes in the microwave ! I often eat them solo for a quick lunch during the season and have got the method down to a tee : having snapped off the stem I pop it into a jug/bowl and add a tablespoon of water. Tightly covered with film, pricked once then I cook for 8-10 minutes, depending on size. Delicious ! You could use this method to pre cook your recipe, I would recommend 5/6 mins ! Enjoy :)

I'm wondering whether you might not have had a better result by covering them with foil first to allow them to steam for maybe a half hour or so, then uncovering and finishing under somewhat higher heat.

That way you might be able to retain the flavor you otherwise would lose boiling them first.

Just a thought.

Personally, I'm not a fan of artichokes, anyhow.

They remind me of sex: usually a letdown in the end and sometimes you end up with more than what you started with.

Chef John--we love your videos. But were disheartened to hear you incorrectly teach your viewers that a slightly opened artichoke is "old"...that part of video is absolutely incorrect. An artichoke is a flower. And if it experiences any variation of temperature..it will open up slightly while still growing on the plant.We'd LOVE to have you come here to the Artichoke Captial..here in Castroville, California- and give you a field tour- show you exactly how artichokes grow- so you can correctly describe a fresh artchoke.We hope consider correcting that incorrect footage as it is misleading people. Thanks for listening.Kori Tuggle, Ocean Mist Farms (Grower of artichokes for over 88 years)

Chef John--we love your videos. But were disheartened to hear you incorrectly teach your viewers that a slightly opened artichoke is "old"...that part of video is absolutely incorrect. An artichoke is a flower. And if it experiences any variation of temperature..it will open up slightly while still growing on the plant.We'd LOVE to have you come here to the Artichoke Captial..here in Castroville, California- and give you a field tour- show you exactly how artichokes grow- so you can correctly describe a fresh artchoke.We hope consider correcting that incorrect footage as it is misleading people. Thanks for listening.Kori Tuggle, Ocean Mist Farms (Grower of artichokes for over 88 years)

Hi Chef John, Thanks for so many great recipes. My family (Sicilian origin) didn’t roast stuffed artichokes at all. Steamed, beginning to end retaining great flavor. Here’s the way we do it.Trim top as you do (a serrated bread knife is good), snip any thorny leaf tips with a scissor. Leave the stem about 1” long, - make the cut carefully so that the choke can stand upright on the stem. May take a bit of re-trimming.The stuffing is very similar to yours, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, parm, black pepper, garlic (optional}, - no oil yet. Stuff the chokes then stand them in a Dutch oven so that they support each other. If they want to fall over take up the space with an inverted cup of ramekin. Fill pot with enough water to reach the bottom if the choke, about an inch. Give the chokes a healthy drizzle of EVOO. Bring to boil, reduce to slow simmer, cover tightly and cook 40 minutes.